Business And Project Planning And Management: Knowledge Management

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Crowdsourcing And Project Planning - Free Leverage

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Crowdsourcing is the process of collaborative thinking and problem-solving either for the benefit of the entire group, or for the benefit of each of the group's members in rotational fashion. Many a brilliant soul who is otherwise profitably occupied will enter into a crowdsourcing platform or conversation out of sheer intellectual curiosity, hubris, or a desire to be a part of a greater mind; some of these wonderful participants simply jump into the fray faced by many project managers and business planners simply to keep their problem-solving skills sharp and at the ready.

In a world where everything seems so expensive, good relationships with peers, colleagues and crowdsourcing-friendly industry groups (and even generic groups, for some better, broader perspective) merely costs some time -- and the results of this coodinated brainstorming process can be wonderfully useful, rather than trying to think through a process or plan in a solitary vacuum.

The crowdsourcing mechanism not only provides for a variety of findings from individuals of different backgrounds, but it also has a synergistic element of interactivity which helps to more clearly refine and troubleshoot the group's findings.

Looked at for the "old school" perspective, crowdsourcing provides the leverage of FREE GENIUS. It is like having a virtual advisory staff. You just cannot overlook this tool

From my personal experience, I have found that the greatest Brainstorming groups can be found through the following platforms, listed from most crowd source-oriented to least crowd source oriented as of the date of this brief article:

1) Linked In - Feel free to join through my portal at
http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/douglascastle.

2) Quora - Feel free to join through my portal at
http://www.quora.com/Douglas-E-Castle

3) Pinterest - This one requires a bit more imagination and creativity to turn into a thought-provoking forum, but it's certainly worth a try. Again, feel free to join through my portal at
http://Pinterest.com/douglasecastle

There are many other crowdsourcing platforms and more specialized groups throughout the internet, Find a few and multiply your creativity, problem-solving ability, and pre-process troubleshooting. As a matter of self-preservation in a very challenging economy, it has become increasingly important to develop your network of outside contacts and relationships.

Crowd sourcing might just be your bonding agent and catalyst of choice in order to broaden the scope of your career opportunities, as well.

Douglas E. Castle

Monday, February 6, 2012

Optimize Use Of FREE* Information: Analytics Quotient [AQ]

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By "FREE*," of course, I actually mean the information which your organization is already receiving or collecting, but which is either being overlooked, unorganized or discarded as a waste product. Knowledge is indeed power, and any information which your organization collects may indeed be the key to some precious additional knowledge. The ability to identify, collect, organize and apply this "hidden-in-plain-sight" treasure is your firm's Analytics Quotient ("AQ").

The higher the AQ, the more likely you are to increase efficiency, effectiveness and sustainable profitability. The necessary actions, in beachcombing through this underemployed output are to:

1) Identify it:

2) Determine its implications and potential usefulness; and

3) Organize it into an actionable format;

4) Initiate action.

5) Monitor change and adjust trajectory.

*Please note that I have (reluctantly) avoided the analogy about,"Even on a farm, the horse manure can be utilized to fertilize a more vigorous crop."

An AQ measures how ready you are to apply insight to your strategy, processes and tactics; how quickly you can re-allocate resources and re-orient your people to make better decisions; and how effectively you can act based on how well you know your past.

The excerpt below appears courtesy of TechRepublic, and the embedded video is sponsored by IBM. Read, watch, and then please hit the "BACK" button on your browser so that we can come to some actionable conclusions and summarize what we've learned:

Outperform with a Higher AQ

Check out this video to see how businesses are succeeding in a time of uncertainty by leveraging the information they're already collecting. It's something that can change nearly every aspect of your business for the better. Click on the link below to see IBM's show of the obvious -- yet the obvious still qualifies as "unconventional wisdom."

http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/data/sw-library/cognos/demos/od_bao_outperforming_with_a_higher_aq/index.html
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The key to measuring your firm's AQ is still uncertain, but each of the following is an indication that you are elevating your firm's AQ -- And in this case, higher (even if we cannot yet measure it) is better:

1) You are capturing detailed data about all aspects of operations;

2) You are organizing this information into reports, reviewing them, coming to conclusions and taking actionable steps;

3) You are minimizing waste, and maximizing utility of any processing by-products.

You see, I believe that AQ is a measure of the following positive factors in combination:

1) Inquisitiveness;

2) Accountability;

3) Efficiency;

4) Ingenuity; and...

5) Focus on profitability.

It's time to mind your AQ, and to take it very, very seriously! It has become a regular procedure (perhaps even a job function) for every company wishing to advance itself by leveraging the assets which it may be, in fact, ignoring or disposing of.

Douglas E. Castle

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